Who’s in the kitchen: Batter up!

All the Pesach dishes are packed, refrigerators, freezers and pantries restocked, that can only mean one thing (to me, at least)……baseball is back!!!!! I am an uber die hard Brave’s fan. I never miss a game. I either watch it at home, on my cell or tape it. Last year, my daughter and I scored press passes to opening day at Citi Field. Icing on the cake? The Mets were playing the Braves. Although it was Pesach the following day, I couldn’t resist.

We were whisked into the Met’s office to get our passes and while waiting, my cell phone rang and I couldn’t find it in my bag. Problem was the ringer was set on the highest volume and my ring tone was the Brave’s chant. I tried to look inconspicuous, but that was rather impossible, as the sound continued to resonate through the room.

Armed with our passes we proceeded to the field level to view the game with our little note pads. Would we pass as sports writers? It was a chilly, windy day and the Mets were clobbering us. We headed inside.

We made our way down to the locker room since we had locker room passes, or so we thought. It seems Jordana only had a field pass. I remembered that my cousin’s boyfriend was a bat boy and tended to the visitors locker room. I told the guard we were there to interview him, and that he would allow Jordana in. The guard said he would allow me in after the game and if the bat boy allowed it, Jordana could go in as well. One by one the line grew behind us. Each Atlanta TV and radio station sent a sport’s anchor and a photographer. The anchors were handsome movie star types equipped with microphones and the photographers had video cameras and huge telescopic lenses. It was obvious; we weren’t going to blend it. Heading the line was my daughter and me. In contrast, our equipment consisted of a small note pad and our Blackberry cell phone cameras, whose batteries were dangerously low. It was a scene out of a comedy routine. I couldn’t even look at Jordana, we kept cracking up. We were so out of place, yet excited. Just then the guard called my name and told me I could go in ahead of the others and check if my daughter would be allowed in. So there I was, like a kid in a candy shop, all alone in the locker room. All the players I had watched for years, their lockers in front of me, each with their respective names and extra uniforms. It was surreal…..until Chipper Jones walked by me in his underwear and nodded. I froze. The words wouldn’t escape my lips, and what would I ask him? Would he like to join my seder? My mind went blank. Just then the door opened a crack and Jordana squealed “C H I P P E R!” One by one the players walked by me and nodded, wondering who I was with my ridiculous homework pad and blackberry in my hand. I managed a picture of the locker room as no one would ever have believed I was in there and then left when the bat boy said there was no way Jordana would be allowed in without the proper pass. I couldn’t stay without her, we were a team after all, she was my “intern” for the day, and besides I would have felt guilty in there if she couldn’t share the excitement with me. At least she got to see Chipper. It was the beginning of many games at the ball park shared with my baby cheering for our team. It doesn’t get much better than that!

For those who love baseball games and those huge hot soft pretzels, this recipe is for you!

Ball Park Pretzels

Ingredients:

•11.5 oz. water

•¾ oz fresh yeast

•2 oz. melted butter or margarine

•2¼ teaspoons salt

•½ oz. malt syrup or barley malt syrup

•22 oz. all purpose flour

•1 egg beaten with 1 T. water

•pretzel or kosher salt

•½ C. baking Soda

•10 cups water

Dissolve the yeast in the water then add the next four ingredients in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the dough hook.

Knead on medium-low speed for 8

minutes.

When the dough is springy, remove it from the mixer and place it in a large greased bowl. Spray the top of the dough with a little vegetable oil to keep a skin from forming. Cover and let rise until doubled.

Once the dough has doubled in size divide the dough into 12 pieces.

Roll each piece of dough into a 2 foot long rope. Twist into a pretzel shape.

Place the pretzels on two greased cookie sheets or half sheet pans.

Put the pretzels in the freezer until very firm.

Once the pretzels are frozen, bring 10 cups of water to a boil with ½ cup baking soda.

When the water is boiling, turn the heat down so the water is gently boiling, and place three frozen pretzels in the water. After one minute, carefully remove the pretzels with a large slotted spoon and put them back on the baking sheet. Repeat until all pretzels have been par boiled.

Brush the egg wash evenly on all the pretzels. Sprinkle them with kosher salt, but it will tend to sink in, not giving you that cool salted pretzel look. They’ll still taste great. If you want the look of the baseball park pretzel you can order pretzel salt through Amazon. It’s not expensive, and a little goes a long way.

Bake at 400F until deeply golden brown, 12-15 minutes.

Judy Joszef can be reached at judy.soiree@gmail.com